Stewards Abuse of Power

Thursday, October 5, 2017

When the
Racing Post spoke to me at Lingfield I
said I was disgusted by
the penalty imposed on Nicola. I remain every bit as disgusted now.

For those
who missed the story, Nicola was suspended after the stewards found her guilty
of "failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to obtain the
best possible placing". The truth is she most definitely wanted to obtain
the best possible placing but was unable to do so as a result of making a
mistake.

The
stewards noted Nicola's mount, Tojosimbre, who I train, was settled towards the
rear of the field in the 2m handicap and passed horses down the side of the
track before running on strongly in the home straight to finish fourth, beaten
five and a quarter lengths.

Let me
make clear I agree with the stewards that Tojosimbre should have finished
closer. Indeed, he ought to have been second to what was an extremely easy
winner of the race.

He was
not helped by being hampered just as the contest was starting to take shape,
but Nicola freely admitted during the post-race inquiry that, with hindsight,
she had let the field get too far away from her before asking Tojosimbre for an
effort.

In part,
a significant degree of fault lay at my door because I instructed Nicola to
ride the horse cold until the five pole. The outcome was Nicola rode an
ill-judged race. The stewards saw that, racegoers and punters will have seen
that and I saw that.

There was
no attempt on her part or mine to deceive anyone and this was certainly not a
stopping ride, although some might wrongly - and damagingly for all those
connected to the horse - have inferred from the stewards' decision that it had
been. In fact, I'm very lucky I have understanding owners. What if those owners
hadn't been understanding and deduced from the suspension we were up to no
good?

In
effect, Nicola has been severely punished for making a mistake.

We all
make mistakes. I know when I was riding I made plenty of them. How often,
however, are jockeys banned for that reason? I'm sure Ryan Moore, the best of
the best, will tell you there are races he should have won this season but did
not because he made a wrong decision somewhere in the race.

Ryan was
not, though, penalised for those mistakes. In contrast, a young apprentice,
seeking to build her career in the sport, has been penalised.

Jockeys
improve with age and experience. The longer I rode the better I became, right
into the years when I was crowned champion. By that stage I was also riding
almost entirely on instinct. That's what senior professionals do.

I never
consciously thought about whether or not I should pull my whip through to the
other hand, nor could I have subsequently explained to you why I did so. I just
did it. I never consciously thought about whether or not to take a gap. I just
took it. That's because a rider with considerable experience does things almost
solely on an inner instinct.

In
contrast, apprentices do not ride on instinct, nor could they at such an early
stage of their careers. They take a second or two to process decisions in their
mind. There was at one point a gap Nicola could have taken but in the time it
took her to think about whether or not to take it, the gap had gone - and so,
too, had Tojosimbre's chance of finishing closer than he eventually did.

This is
where she got it wrong, just as a footballer who misses a penalty gets it
wrong. Yet whereas the footballer has time to mull over whether to aim left or
right, Nicola faced a split-second judgement, one that, as an apprentice, she
was always in danger of judging wrongly.

Another
of our apprentices, Finley Marsh, made mistakes of his own on Tojosimbre on the
horse's previous start at Brighton. Most people would acknowledge Finley has
been one of the riding finds of the season but as a jockey learning his trade
he is more liable to get things wrong than fellow members of the weighing room
who have been plying that trade for many years. That's why apprentices claim
7lb or less.

Some of
my anger is based on the fact I know how much Nicola wants to be a successful
jockey.

This is
her fifth year with a licence. It was only in her fourth year she rode her
first winner. Due to an enormous amount of hard work she has started to make
significant progress, riding eight winners in 2017, including three on John
Berry's excellent handicapper Kryptos, one of them at the St Leger meeting.

She has
finally started to get going but has now had her confidence dented by a
suspension that did not need to be handed out.

Nicola
comes into the yard at 5.30am every day. She is always asking me questions and
is desperate to learn. She has come on in leaps and bounds.

The BHA,
together with the Professional Jockeys Association, regularly states it wants
to improve the quality of the young jockeys entering the sport. However,
officials representing the BHA have done just the opposite in this instance.
After leaving the stewards' room on Tuesday, Nicola rang me in tears. I could
understand why.

Finley
was recently due to have six rides at Yarmouth. It then transpired he was
supposed to attend an apprentices' course in Newmarket that day but had
forgotten about it.

That was
Finley's fault, but it was still disappointing when the authorities told us
take Finley off his Yarmouth mounts so that he could go to the racing school.
We were never going to permit that to happen because the best place for Finley
to learn is on the racecourse. We pleaded with them to change their minds.
Luckily, they saw sense.

I want to
make clear I have genuine respect for racecourse stewards. They give up their
time for nothing and serve the sport admirably. Perhaps on this occasion they
were advised badly - I wasn't present for their deliberations, so I don't know
- but they undoubtedly came to a bad decision on many levels.

I hope
when Nicola's appeal is heard by the BHA's disciplinary panel, there is
recognition of that.

Enable will be mighty hard to
beat

Enable
is set to start a
red-hot favourite for the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but she deserves to
and I expect her to win.

Ever
since she powered to victory in the Oaks she has looked the best of this
season's three-year-olds.

She goes
into the Arc having won four Group 1 races on the bounce, in one of which she
thrashed older opponents, including her main market rival on Sunday, Ulysses.

She has
won on the sort of ground she will encounter at Chantilly, she will have been
freshened up since winning at York and tactically she is adaptable. That final
point is particularly important.

At York
Frankie made the running. If need be he can do so again this time. That's a
huge thing for a jockey to know. If the pace is too quick Enable can be dropped
in a little but if the pace starts to slacken the filly can be pushed forward
and her stamina exploited, particularly up Chantilly's home straight, which can
sometimes seem never-ending.

This is
set to be a gruelling race and I just don't think it will allow Ulysses
to show his very best
form.

He is an
excellent colt, one who was particularly impressive when winning the Juddmonte
International, but he was beaten fair and square by Enable at Ascot and
conditions are going to be very similar again at Chantilly. I don't believe
racing over 1m4f at Del Mar next month would in any way hinder him but this is
going to be an altogether different sort of test.

Winter, who, like Enable, has been
magnificent all year, is a super addition to the Arc, and it's fascinating Ryan
is riding her, as opposed to Capri or Order Of St George, but she has been
mopping up over 1m and 1m2f, whereas Enable is proven over the Arc distance.

I think
Enable is now about to prove herself the undoubted horse of the year in Europe.